The British & Irish Lions made a strong start to life on Australian soil with a 54-7 win over Western Force in Perth on Saturday.

The stats gurus at Oval Insights have crunched the numbers – here are some of the standout stats from the victory.

23 – Tackles by Josh van der Flier

Josh van der Flier was among the Lions debutants at Optus Stadium and slotted seamlessly into a red jersey.

The 32-year-old did plenty of the unsung dirty work in Perth and topped the tackle charts with 23.

He was also effective in an attacking sense, setting Henry Pollock free with an offload and throwing a long pass in the build-up to Joe McCarthy’s try.

And speaking of Big Joe…

14 – Carries by Joe McCarthy

The Man of the Match in Perth, McCarthy was everywhere and made his sizable presence felt.

McCarthy made some crucial turnovers, stole lineouts, crunched into 19 tackles – second behind Van der Flier – and topped the charts for carries with 14 aggressive forays.

He kept the momentum going throughout, proving a willing carrier late on, in a statement performance.

99 – Metres made by Mack Hansen

Mack Hansen was earmarked by Andy Farrell for carrying out the Lions’ ‘play of the day’, sprinting back into his own 22 to win the race to a Force kick through – epitomising, in Farrell’s words, “what a Lion should do for his team-mates… that’s the type of spirit we want throughout the team.”

Hansen also led the way for metres made in the Lions’ XV, with 99 – narrowly coming out on top ahead of Elliot Daly (95) and James Lowe (93).

4 – Defenders beaten by Henry Pollock

Pollock was another eye-catching performer against the Force and seems to find himself at the centre of everything.

He has become known for his bursts through the defensive line, along with his chip and chases, and both were displayed at Optus Stadium.

The all-action Northampton Saints No.8 beat four defenders, the most of the Lions squad, and set up a try for Tomos Williams.

23 – Offloads

The Lions showed glimpses of their attacking flair against Argentina in Dublin and built on that in Perth.

James Lowe’s ‘out the back door’ offload to captain Dan Sheehan for the opening try set the tone while any team with Finn Russell at fly-half will be willing to experiment.

In all, the Lions pulled off 23 offloads – 13 more than their opponents – which helped them score some particularly pleasing-on-the-eye tries.